CNN’s data guru has torn into President Donald Trump over what the latest polls say about the his long-running trolling campaign against America’s northern neighbor.
“When you pick on Canada as the United States president, you are picking on a country that the American people adore,” CNN’s Harry Enten said Monday. “When you’re going after Canada, you are going against someone who is far more popular than you are, Donald Trump.”
Enten brought receipts. On the board behind him, a graphic illustrated how Canada’s net approval rating of +49 in the United States practically soars when set against Trump’s meagre own -10.
“We’re talking about Canada coming out nearly 60 points ahead on the net popularity rating versus Donald Trump here, in the United States!” Enten said.
“No president has come anywhere close to how popular Canada is right now, and Donald Trump certainly is long, long away, he cannot see Canada from his house when it comes to his net popularity,” he added.
Trump has routinely sparred with Canadian officials, and indeed the Canadian nation as a whole, since assuming the White House for the second time earlier in January.
In particular, the president has half-jokingly talked about turning one of the United States’ closest allies into the 51st state, referring to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with such withering regularity that the country’s current leader, Mark Carney, even worked the popular “Never 51” slogan into his campaign back in March.
That feud escalated dramatically over the weekend when Trump abruptly severed trade negotiations over an online ad. Commissioned by the government of Ontario, the clip uses audio from one of Ronald Reagan’s presidential addresses in 1987 blasting tariffs as an effective economic measure.
“When someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works—but only for a short time,” Reagan says in the audio.
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” the clip continues. “Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs… America’s jobs and growth are at stake.”
Trump has pursued an aggressive tariffs policy, described by critics as a trade war, against much of the rest of the planet since April. The fallout has proven swift, with the U.S. president announcing new tariff threats and accusing Canada of economic sabotage and media manipulation.
Ottawa has rebuked his latest rhetoric, calling his response “unfounded political theatre” and vowing to defend Canadian industries from what it described as reckless protectionism from the U.S.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment on this story.
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